Of course, plebe-net and parent-net are not official sources of West Point information (in spite of what they would like you to believe).
And facebook mom or Dads is official????
West Point Moms' Facebook group provides a great service where moms can discuss things and ask questions of upperclass and grad moms in confidence.
Which is a wonderful thing.... except when it's also positioned as the only real source of non-mom specific information. As in this thread.
Moms get tired of hearing/reading the long, drawn-out comments and regurgitated information that Dads seem to like.
I find this quite funny, especially given your following comment:
Just curious....how do you know what is discussed in West Point Moms, hawk?
Is your wife a member?
And how do you know that Dad's want regurgitated information????
That's a very sweeping generalization.
The reality is that in many families all information resources are utilized. Moms monitor the moms list. Dads monitor the dads list. We all monitor plebe.net. And even some hyperactive parents clubs in other states.
And in each information source, multiple times this year, and every year, there is incorrect/invalid information posted. Certainly contradictory. And also some accurate information not available elsewhere.
And every information source seems to want to position their sources as "best", most accurate. (well, the Dad's FB does not, they just talk about football
)
So to your question about how do we know about the various groups??? Our parents club outlines the various sources to plebe families. And stresses that nothing you hear in informal groups can be taken as final until the information comes out from USMA public affairs.
More detailed info, more timely, what happened last year, etc can all occur in the informal lists. But authoritative? Nope. We have learned that forum/list info is usually directionally accurate, is a good hint at what can/will/did happen. But until it comes out from public affairs or the cadets are briefed, you can't count on it. I could list multple examples just this summer/fall, but that would be too long & drawn out.
My point still stands, fragmented and gender specific information flow is never a good thing. It results in duplication of effort, contradictory answers, and does not benefit anyone.
It's not unique to the USMA situation, it's just that the various USMA parents groups have carried it to an extreme.